Ben Roethlisberger Blames Coaching for Killing Steelers Tradition
Ben Roethlisberger attributes the Steelers’ tradition’s demise to coaching. “Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers might be done,” Roethlisberger stated.
After the Pittsburgh Steelers’ losses to the two-win New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals in consecutive weeks, nearly everyone is questioning the team’s “way.” Ben Roethlisberger, a former quarterback who is unsure whether the “Steeler way” still exists, joins the conversation along with a few other black and gold legends.
Roethlisberger stated on his podcast Footbahlin’, “Maybe the tradition of the Pittsburgh Steelers is done.”
Roethlisberger said that the Steelers have struggled this season because of the coaching and that it all starts with decision-making, which he has recently questioned.
Roethlisberger stated, “You can’t afford in the second half of games to burn silly timeouts and not have them late in the game.” That to me is bad coaching. Because timeouts can be so valuable, as we saw in this game, you need to have a certain attitude in those situations. We can work the middle of the field if we have one more timeout, get a completion, and give Boz (Chris Boswell) a 60-yard chance. He will tie the game if you give him a chance. Because they scored all of their points early and the momentum had changed, I like my chances in overtime.
Regarding the Steelers’ approach, numerous former players, including Ryan Clark earlier this week, have stated that the team lacks accountability. Roethlisberger asserted that a lack of accountability results in less leadership and, as a result, less “fire.”
He stated, “Who is grabbing someone by the face mask and saying, ‘That’s not what we do’?” Is that taking place? Yes, defensive players are doing it, but offensive players are also needed to do it… In that room, you need someone to take offense and stand up and say, Hey, this isn’t what it means to wear the black and gold.
“This is not what those teams of the 1970s handed down. The Nolls, Bradshaws, and Blounts, the four Super Bowls, and the Steel Curtain It’s unbelievable all of those people.”
To top it all off, he brought up a topic that a lot of people have also discussed: the fact that not every player in the locker room puts the team first. After the Steelers’ loss to the Browns this season, Najee Harris refused to answer the question of whether or not everyone was team-first oriented. Since then, it has remained a significant topic of discussion in Pittsburgh.
Roethlisberger stated, “I understand the further you get away from that, the harder it is unless it is being passed down and carried the right way.” That just seems to have been overlooked by this team. I’ve had the impression that some team members are only interested in themselves and not the team. Now, some of the team members are expressing the same sentiment.
